oooh weee; what a week (Ghostface voice)
So in my capacity as committee member for the Camden Crawl Music Festival and Event Booker / PR for the Jazz Cafe over the last few years I have become very familiar with the LIVE music scene in CTown.
Koko venue kicked off a legendary week with north London grime MC Skepta headlining on May 9th, with literally a few days notice he managed to sell out the venue which coincided with the launch of his brand new album Konnichiwa. After a monumental year which has seen him do headline shows in north America and achieve huge PR globally, Skepta embodies the DIY attitude of artistry; with genuine support from his luminars… he was joined on stage by Wiley, Novelist, Giggs, Chip, Frisco, D Double, Shorty, DJ Maximum and his brother JME to name but a few. In this week’s CIN Official UK album charts Skepta was holding the #1 spot, selling a few thousand more copies than Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade’ album at #2. It’s a huge achievement for his BBK (Boy Better Know) independent record label.
Click the pic below to watch Skepta perform ‘That’s Not Me’ :-
A few days later May 11th Koko hosted the south London rap collective Section Boyz, a rescheduled date from the previous month. Winning the MOBO Awards last year for ‘Best Newcomer’, performing with Skepta and Canadian rap superstar Drake this year after the Brit Awards and being featured on Chris Brown’s new mixtape ‘Before The Trap’ the venue was easily packed. The UK Rap/Grime scene showing it’s unity; support came from Krept & Konan, Stormzy, Faze Miyake to name a few.
Click the pic below to listen to Chris Brown Feat Section Boyz & Quavo – Whippin’ :-
Click The pic below to watch Section Boyz – ‘Lock Arff’ :-
So on Thursday May 12th me and the homie from Capital Xtra, DJ Abrantee roll through Koko for Wretch 32 & Avelino’s ‘Old Flame’ headline show. Even from outside the venue was busy, peppered with a host of UK music officianodos. Wretch 32 with many UK chart records under his belt went back to back with Avelino and stage support was an incredibly tight band, DJ Smasherelly and DJ Manny Norte, Ghetts, Swiss, Angel, Wstrn to name a few. Wretch lead a moving tribute to music industry A&R/Manager Richard Antwi who passed away tragically earlier this year.
Salutes to Koko London for embracing UK Rap/Grime culture in such a positive form 🙂
Click The pic below to watch Wretch 32 ‘Don’t Go’ :-
Socials :-
@skepta
@maximumbbk
@sectionboyz_
@wretch32
@OfficialAvelino
@Smasherelly
@MannyNorte
@KokoLondon
@Thadboogie
